During the past year, there has been growing interest in the U.S. in balcony solar: small solar panel systems that are hung up outside and send power straight into wall sockets to partially offset people’s utility bills. These systems first appeared in Germany in the late 2010s and spread through Europe when energy prices spiked because of the war in Ukraine. German households had installed more than four million systems as of last year.
Balcony solar systems have been operating in a regulatory gray area. Many have been the work of adventurous consumers operating outside of local laws. Utah was the first state to legalize plug-in solar last year. Since then, ten more states have passed laws in their legislatures, including New York and Massachusetts, although neither has signed them into law as yet.
To date, balcony solar systems are mostly the product of German companies, such as CraftStrom, that have reengineered their products for use in American electrical systems. These systems generally provide 180 to 360 watts of power and cost three to five hundred dollars. They are engineered to be lightweight enough to be fairly easy for consumers to install and move around. Few American companies have entered this market as yet, but undoubtedly more will as time goes on.
Balcony solar systems extend the benefits of clean energy a little bit at a time to renters and other people unable to access traditional rooftop solar. The impact of the average person’s electric bill is modest, but as the number of systems expands, as it has in Europe, these products can make a difference to the overall electric grid.
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Balcony solar is sweeping the US, but who’s actually selling it?
